ISN'T GAZAL AN INADEQUATE FORMAT FOR POETIC OUTPOURINGS OF A FREE MIND?

                                          

                         ( Poet Akhtar ul Iman ) 

ISN'T  GAZAL AN INADEQUATE FORMAT FOR POETIC  OUTPOURINGS  OF A FREE MIND? 

"Ba qadr e shauq nahin zarf e tanganae Gazal

kuchh aur chaahiye vussat meray bayaan ke liye"

(Ghalib)

(In proportion to my fancy,the tight alleys of a Gazal are too narrow,

I need something more spacious for my expression.)

Once a  Matla or opening two lines have been written, the poet  has set the thematic and lyrical foundation for the Gazal and he has no choice but to express in the length, rhyme and meter set by Matla .  As a line provides only a short space for the expression of a poetic idea ,detailed and drawn out comparisons, in the manner of Homeric similes or Epic similes  are impossible in Gazal format. Matla is a poetic term used primarily in Persian literature to describe a couplet where the first line sets the rhyme scheme for the entire poem. 

Modern Urdu poets like Noon Meem Rashid, Akhtar ul Iman, Fahmida Riaz  and many more were not comfortable with Gazal format . Urdu poet  Josh Malihabadi also expressed limitations of  Gazal format for poetry . Even Miraji was not comfortable with Gazal format. Miraji wrote more than 360 Nazms and Geets but only about 16 Gazals.

Akhtar ul Iman never used Gazal format .He  felt that the  Gazal format  does not permit expression of original ideas and concept .He also believed that Ghalib had put an end to Gazal writing. He had brought it to its Zenith. I haven't come across any Gazal written by Akhtar ul Iman.

( Avtar Mota )

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MARKAZ KI CHAAL..

                                        

MARKAZ KI CHAAL..

Once we had no snow fall in Kashmir.It was probably 1979 or 1980 . Even in  January , we had sunny days. Kashmiris   said it was  "Markaz Ki Chaal"  (a  ploy by Central Government ) . Everything unusual in Kashmir was construed as "Markaz Ki Chaal". Even educated Kashmiris  remained silent on these funny and laughable  statements .And when a  local leader  said in Jogilanker Chowk( Rainawari ) gossip shop  that Markaz (Central Government) had used "Special Gas"   to  drive away clouds from  the sky to deprive Kashmiris of a snowfall. I wrote a poem. Some lines for you :-

"Ab ke baras yuun sardi aayi

Na baarish na baraf hi laayi

Izzat aabroo teen sau sattar 

Bacha booda ya ho qalandhar

Sab ka  bura hai  haal

Maagh  mein June sanbhaal

.............Yeh markaz ki Chaal"

( Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

THE KILLERS AND THE. SILENT COLLABORATORS MUST KNOW

                                        

                                    

THE KILLERS AND THE. SILENT COLLABORATORS  MUST KNOW ..

(Photo Rashtra-Kavi ..Ramdhari Singh Dinkar ) 

“Samar shesh hai, nahi paap ka bhagi keval vyaghra,

 Jo tatasth hain, samay likhega unka bhi apraadh.”  .............Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

(The battle is still on, not only the jungle tiger shares the sin,

Those who are neutral, time will write their crime too.)

 

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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THE GREEDY BROKERS AND THE SHADY BUYERS

                                    

                                                     ( A deserted Kashmiri Pandit house in the  Kashmir valley) 

THE GREEDY BROKERS  AND  THE  SHADY BUYERS 

I am aware of many persons who bought immovable property of Kashmiri Pandits for peanuts.. A property worth 80 Lakhs in Rawalpora Housing Colony was bought for 12.50 Lakhs. A property worth 40 Lakhs in Indira Nagar was bought for 3.50 Lakhs. Old residential houses in Srinagar city were bought for anything between fifty thousand to two Lakhs. Shops, agricultural land and orchards owned by Kashmiri Pandits met a similar fate.Leave aside large-scale encroachments and unauthorised occupations. These are altogether different painful stories. 

I know how, after 1990, many greedy brokers swarmed into  Jammu  (camps and residential areas ) and other cities of the country in scorching heat, tracing the Pandit owners of the property in the Kashmir valley and forcing them to sign a "Power of Attorney " to sell their property for peanuts. I saw these greedy brokers using fear, panic, coercion, pressure, intimidation or what is known as  *Saam, Daam Dhand and Bhed skillfully to trap hapless victims who needed money badly to survive in alien lands after being thrown out of their homes and hearths. 

I am privy to the trapping of many innocents in these cruel and criminal sales by the greedy brokers who tied the property owners  with petty advance amounts till they found a buyer. It was cruel. It was pathetic. It was unjust. It was sheer deceit.

Mysterious fires, removal of doors/ windows, removal of sanitary fittings and many other methods were employed by these criminals masquerading as property brokers to convince innocent owners that there was no buyer for the house they left behind, given its prevailing conditions. Babademb area in Srinagar city  became hub for the sale of the old wooden frames, doors, windows ,wooden furniture and other stuff looted from vacant houses of Kashmiri Pandits . Some carpentry shops opened in this area for remodeling this looted frames, doors, windows  and furniture for prospective buyers.

Unfortunately, some of these greedy brokers and shady buyers are currently active on social media, giving loud sermons on moral values, peace, humanism, and justice. They also speak about Baichaara( brotherhood ) and Kashmiriyat.

(Avtar Mota )

PS

*The phrase "Saam Daam Dand Bhed" is a strategic concept from ancient Indian texts.  Each of the four words represents a different approach for achieving a goal and completing a mission.

Saam : It involves using clever dialogue, negotiation, and apparently friendly discussions to win over someone.

Daam :  It refers to using money, incentives, or gifts to influence someone’s decision.

Dhand : It involves using force, threats, or punitive measures to achieve compliance or achieve your goal.

Bhed : It involves using strategies to create suspicions, uncertainties, doubts or divisions in the mind to achieve the goal.

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

A DOHA (TWO-LINE POEM ) AND A WEDDING COUPLE

                                                                    

A DOHA (TWO-LINE POEM ) AND A WEDDING COUPLE

 

A friend sent this painting to me and requested that I write two lines for this work of art that shows a wedding couple. I wrote this:-

 

Pehle nag ke saath rakha nag 

Jeevan bhar ka mail...

Ab to parkho jaano phir bhi

 chaar dinon ka khel ...

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

LOADING AND UNLOADING CHARGES

                                        

( Symbolic burning of the  "Death Shadow "  by Kashmiri Hindus at a crematorium in Jammu  .Photo ...Avtar Mota )

 LOADING UNLOADING CHARGES

“The soul is not liable to birth nor to death; neither does it take its origin from any other or from itself; hence it is unborn, eternal without reduction and unchangeable; therefore the soul is not injured by the hurt which the boy may receive.”…Katha Upanishad

 

Jagan Nath (age 80 years) died in his Jammu house where he lived with his wife Raj Rani, while his only son had moved to Canada permanently. As this sudden tragedy struck the old couple, Raj Rani didn’t know what to do or where to go. Both Jagan Nath and Raj Rani were patients of hypertension, diabetes and painful osteoarthritis. They could not walk. Jagan Nath had been confined to bed for about six months before his death. Hearing the sad news, Chaman Lal (age 75 years), their neighbour, came running and sat on a chair. He was suffering from painful varicose veins and hypertension. Sitting on the chair, he directed all arrangements at that critical juncture. Some more elderly neighbours and relatives arrived limping and seeking chairs to sit in. There was none to weep for Jagan Nath. Then, Raj Rani believed that death had favoured Jagan Nath. It had ended his suffering. Looking towards the ceiling of the room, she sat near his body.

The neighbours and some elderly relatives gave the ritual bath to Jagan Nath’s body before the departure to the crematorium. There was no young person among the mourners who could lift Jagan Nath’s body and put it inside the vehicle sent by the crematorium. Finally, Chaman Lal requested the driver and his two helpers to put the body in the vehicle. In the evening, Jai Shankar Bairagi, the caretaker of the crematorium, sent a bill of rupees 8750/= to Raj Rani that read like this:-

 

(1)    Timber for the pyre                   3800

 

(2)    3 Helper charges                         1500

        for burning

(3)    Vehicle                                           550

 

(4)    Loading and unloading               900

 of the body

 

(5)    Donation                                     2000

 

                                              Total     8750.00

( Avtar Mota )

PS

Known as ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' or the practice of burning "Death Shadow" symbolically at a crematorium, is still practised by Kashmiri Hindus. Before returning from a crematorium, a bundle of dry grass is burnt, and those who had come with the dead body make three rounds around this fire and leave for their homes. Poet Farooq Nazki uses ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' as a metaphor in his heart-touching poem about Kashmiri Pandit exiles. I quote the specific lines ," Chhe draaga-mokal  yemberzalan tchhayi naar zalaan,  Yimav qadam kaed garav neibar, tim na aayi pheerith ,na zchhendi sontan". If the lines are read in context, Nazki intends to say," When the narcissus flowers were not seen in the garden, greedy brokers arrived, burning even their shadows to thwart their return to the garden. Alas!  Those who stepped out of their homes neither returned nor did the spring season seek their whereabouts."

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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FATHER AND DAUGHTER

                                  

                                           

FATHER AND  DAUGHTER...

"Saada chidiyaan da chamba ve, 

Babul assaan urr jaana...."( A popular Punjabi folk song ) 

When a daughter leaves her parental home , every father turns emotional. He can't  hold back his tears. Saw it in East and West .Saw it across cultures.Who says human emotions and feelings aren't  universal? I found them similar here , there,  anywhere and everywhere.

                                                       

"Saada chidiyaan da chamba ve, 

Babul assaan urr jaana.

Saadi lammi udaari ve, 

babul kehrre des jaana."

"Ours is a flock of sparrows, 

Dear father,

We have to fly away.

Ours is  a long, 

a very long flight,

We know not to which land 

we shall go."

(Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.